Front suspension fork - Enduro seals
OK, I am very happy with how this turned out. My REBA was leaking, and I turned to an old Fox F100 that was also leaking. I had ordered the
32 mm Enduro Seals for Fox, and was eager to learn to service my forks myself, and change the seals / wipers to the Enduros while at it. My other Fox had undergone a service for CHF 200 !!!, and all they did was replace the seals and replace the oil.
Having never disassembled a front fork before, I read and re-read the very good
Enduro manuals, especially those for the Fox F100 and 36 TALAS. As mentioned in my previous post, heavily recommended read for anybody using front suspension! I also did a search for Enduro seals on Google, and ran into
this MTBR thread, which describes some nice user experiences combined with some very good expert answers from Chris2fur, who is the man behind the Enduro seals. During the weekend I faithfully followed the steps described in the manual, and I really got to know the insides of my fork. I replaced the seals / wipers with the Enduros, and replaced the oil with Rockshock 2.5WT suspension oil (bike handler did not have any other brand available). The wipers are really tightfitting. The fork is very smooth, but obviously needs a bit more dialling in from me. This morning I drove to work and it is one very smooth ride. The Fox is also much more stable than the REBA. Very happy with it.
Full grip throttle
As mentioned before, I switched to a voltage throttle connected directly to the controller, bypassing the CA. Now, I will discuss the reasons for that in the next paragraph, but I just wanted to state something about this full grip (motor-cycle like) thing. I had a half grip throttle in use for over a year now, and I have gotten very used to the fact that I can hold on tightly to the steering bar ends with both hands, without influencing the throttle. With the full grip throttle, I can not do that anymore. This is where I have found that with a 30kg 5kW bike going 35mph / 55kmh, I really appreciate gripping the steering bar with both hands. With the full grip throttle, I ended up fearing for each bump and going much more slowly than otherwise, because every bump would slightly change the right hand position, and with it the throttle. I will go back to half grip as soon as I get home.
Direct voltage throttle
As mentioned before, I switched to a voltage throttle connected directly to the controller, bypassing the CA, the main reason being that my CAv2 is maxed out at 99A and 99kmh. Now the speed is not a problem, I feel most comfortable at 50-55kmh, and it is nice to be able to go 70-75kmh if needed. However, with my mountains, and with the MethTek Monster in house, the 99A is a bit too restrictive. I also have the CAv3beta, but it is only since Rev19 that I have enough confidence to start giving it control to my throttle. Anyway, I bypassed the CA, and connecte the throttle to the controller directly. Big mistake!
Methods kindly provided me with a (full grip) throttle that has some arbitrary scale (1-9) on the grip and a big green ebrake button. As expected, there was no reaction from the controller for the first 25% rotation of the throttle. Under noload conditions, the next 50% increased speed from 0 to 75kmh (1.5A - 2.5A), and then the last 25% from 75kmh to 95kmh (2.5A - 3.5A). This was as expected. However, I was absolutely not prepared for the real life implications, after being used to the nice and civil curren throttle via the CA. For me, having to turn the throttle for 25%, and then an almost instant 30A burst to get the motor running from 0 to 10kmh is crazy. For every traffic light, I was bracing myself while turning the throttle for what seemed an endless time, and only then very very slowly move the throttle in order not to be thrown off.
Mind you, this is with the Lyen 18FET still in place. I cannot even fathom what the results would be with the MethTek Monster. Therefore, I will need to go back to the current throttle via the CA. I will probably need to rely on the CAv3 to get past the 99A limit. But I have come to rely on my current throttle for safe driving. This is really a compliment to Justin and his team, who built the CA in the first place!
Weird brake down
So, I arrived at my work not too happy. At about 2/3rd of my route, I heard a weird "crack", and then my motor stopped working and when pushed it demonstrated this typical dragging behaviour that makes you fear for your FETs. Upon closer inspection, the disc brake was hanging loose, 5 out of 6 screws that fixate it to the cromotor had dissappeared, and one of the legs of the brake caliper (Elixer 7) had broken. I put the bike at the side of the road, secured it with a strong chainlock, and walked for 60minutes to my working place. I will pick it up tonight with the car.
So, my theory of what happened; the disc brake was secured to the cromotor using a
2.5mm spacer to increase disk caliper clearance from Grin. The bolts (with locktite) were therefore only partially inserted in the holes in the cromotor, and must have come loose since I last put them there. Then the disc came loose, and the rotation of the loose disc broke the disc caliper's foot, at the same time increasing the load to the motor tremendously. The last thing probably burned some FETs.
I will be able to better diagnose when I get home. Sure can try the sensorless Lyen controller and then I have a good justification to put on the MethTek Monster
I just fitted a cromotor, WOW! Now i know what you guys are talking about!!!
